JOHN McGinn came off the bench to net a dramatic late winner against Croatia at Hampden tonight and keep alive Scotland’s hopes of surviving in the top tier of the Nations League and possibly even reaching the quarter-finals.

McGinn struck with four minutes of regulation time remaining to send the home supporters in the sell-out crowd wild - and his goal ultimately secured all three points in the Group A1 fixture.

The Aston Villa midfielder took his overall tally for his country to 19 against the 12th placed team in the FIFA World Rankings and moved alongside Ally McCoist in fifth place in their all-time scoring charts.

Steve Clarke’s men withstood intense pressure in the first half of their penultimate outing and were helped no end when Zlatko Dalic’s young midfielder Petar Sucic was sent off shortly before half-time.

Still, beating such revered rivals was an impressive achievement. It was their first competitive triumph in over a year and they deserved it.

They can stay among the competition's elite and may even progress to the last eight if, depending on final goal difference, they prevail against Poland in Warsaw on Monday night and leaders Portugal overcome Croatia in Split. 

Here are five talking points from a famous triumph.

Conway chance

With Che Adams of Torino out through injury, Hearts captain Lawrence Shankland not showing the same ruthlessness as he did last term and Lyndon Dykes not starting regularly for Birmingham City, opportunity knocked for Tommy Conway.

The Middlesbrough man, who qualifies to play for Scotland through his Stirling-born paternal grandfather, made his debut for his adopted homeland when he came on in the Euro 2024 warm-up match against Finland back in June and got on the field at the end of the Nations League encounter with Portugal in Lisbon in September.

But the 6ft 1in 22-year-old had played less than 45 minutes of international football. Making his first start in a dark blue jersey against the former World Cup finalists was a significant step up.

His promotion was a reward for his fine play at his club. He has been on target on five occasions in the English Championship in the 2024/25 campaign. He was the forward in the best form.

He received little service, but worked hard throughout and did well whenever he got involved. He will grow as a result of the experience and offer a different option in attack.  

Modric class

Scotland found themselves under pressure from kick-off and were fortunate not to be punished for their slack play both at the back and in the middle of the park by their opponents during the early stages.

Craig Gordon pushed an Andrej Kramaric shot past his post after Billy Gilmour had surrendered possession needlessly and punched clear a Luka Sucic attempt to keep the hosts level.

But Luka Modric and Co showed their quality too. Croatia’s captain, who was winning his 183rd cap at the grand old age of 39, oozed class whenever he got involved. Which was regularly.

The home supporters turned up in numbers in the hope of seeing a win and they duly did. But the iconic midfielder was a draw too. He did not disappoint.

Gallus Doak    

Scotland had their moments as well. Not least when Ben Doak skinned Josko Gvardiol of Manchester City with delicious and audacious back heel wide on the right. The Liverpool kid, who is on loan with Conway at Middlesbrough this season, then burst upfield, cut inside and supplied Scott McTominay.

The Napoli player made a good connection at the edge of the penalty box and Dominik Kotarski, the PAOK goalkeeper who was winning just his second cap, had to show good reactions to push the ball wide.  

Doak retained his place despite McGinn being available once again and more than justified his selection. He kept the Croatia left-back on his toes throughout and did superbly to set up the only goal of the game.

The teenager has been hyped for some time now and Clarke is conscious of not asking too much of him too soon. But he has a gallusness about him which suggests he can cope with being in the spotlight. He can play a bit too.

Sucic sees red

Scotland’s hopes of getting the result they needed received an unexpected boost two minutes before half-time when Sucic was ordered off by Israeli referee Orel Grinfeeld for a second bookable offence.

The young Dinamo Zagreb received a yellow card for a rash challenge on Gilmour earlier in the first half and when he went in high on John Souttar the match official reached for his pocket again.

The 21-year-old looked on the verge of tears as he trudged up the tunnel and his team mates protested his innocence for some time. But he could have no complaints about his punishment. His second foul was arguably deserving of a straight red itself.  

Scott McKenna took over from Grant Hanley at centre-half at the start of the second half and Scotland started positively and tried to take advantage of their numerical advantage.

Doak just failed to find Conway after being sent through by Gilmour, Anthony Ralston had an effort blocked and Gilmour shelled over when Doak was in acres of space outside him. Andy Robertson and his team mates dominated and nobody could begrude them their triumph at the end of the 90 minutes.  

McGinn to the rescue

McGinn has played seven times for Aston Villa and since returning from the knock which ruled him out of the last Nations League double header and scored in the Champions League against Bologna. But he found himself in the unusual position of warming the bench.

He entered the fray when Clarke made a triple substitution with 23 minutes of regulation time remaining. He took over from Kenny McLean as Ryan Gaul replaced his namesake Christie and Conway made way for Dykes. Cue lusty renditions of Super John McGinn around the ground. He duly delivered.